Page 109 of Blood and Bonbons

“Don’t make me regret this.”

“Never,” he said before he closed the door.

He got in, buckled, and started the car before I could say anything. Then he surprised me further by smoothly pulling out into traffic. The distance he kept between my car and the car in front of us was perfect. Same with his lane alignment. His acceleration and braking were both smooth, too.

“There is no way you are this good the first time driving.”

He flashed a grin at me.

“I’m very observant, Everly. Plus, I have a few additional memories.”

“Ah. That’s right. The grocery boy?”

“No. I only feed on the same human once a week. I’ve acquired a few others since then.”

“Wow. That’s impressive.” I wasn’t impressed, though. I was a little…disappointed? Jealous? I wasn’t sure what the feeling was, but I didn’t like it.

As soon as Cross parked in front of my house, I got out.

“If it’s all right with you, I don’t think you should come in. My boss is worried about the killings happening around work and has been sending one of the guys home with us to ensure we’re safe at night. He’s got a good nose.”

Cross nodded and handed me the keys to my car.

I popped the trunk and was going to take out the garbage when he swept in and removed it for me.

“Thank you,” I said, wondering at the change in his behavior. Was he merely being polite in return for all the help we’d given him? Doubtful. If that were the case, he’d offer the same courtesies to Vena. No, he had a definite preference for me. Why else had he been in my bed this morning?

I studied Cross as he tossed the garbage into the bin at the side of the house. He was deliciously handsome. Almost decadent. Something that was mesmerizing to look at but intimidating to be close to.

He caught my head-to-toe scan of him.

“I will leave my things with you for now, Everly, if that’s okay.”

I nodded. “We can pick up the altered trousers and your phone tomorrow.”

“Then I will see you tomorrow.” After a feather-light caress along my cheek, he motioned for me to go inside.

The door was already unlocked, and as soon as I closed it behind me, I peeked through the window to see that he was gone.

“It’s about time you got home,” Vena said from the couch. “I was about to text you. Where’s money bags?”

“His name is Cross.”

Vena raised a brow. “Did someone get a sugar daddy?”

I collapsed onto the couch next to her. “No. And you should be nice to him because he just got us one step closer to finding Miles.”

Vena sat up. “How? When?”

“I realized that Cross has a really good sense of smell, so we went to Miles’ apartment. Cross detected a woman’s perfume. He also spoke to the fairy that’s been hanging around outside Miles’ door. Do you know those things can communicate? It pantomimed that the woman had a tattoo of a fairy on her lower back.”

Vena frowned at the news. “Did you say a fairy tattoo on her lower back?”

“Yes. Why? Do you know of someone who has a tattoo like that?”

She frowned and shook her head. “Probably not.” She pulled out her phone. “We’ll need to start canvassing all the tattoo parlors in D.C.”

“That’s a lot of places. Would they even remember a woman asking for a fairy tattoo?”

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